Google Redesigns Docs, Reports Strong Q2

Google has announced it will be giving Google Docs a thorough spit and polish - which is a somewhat odd stance for a company which usually just makes updates then explains them to everyone.

"We're always looking for ways to make it easier to find what you're looking for in Google Docs, which is why we're taking some time to do a bit of remodeling to the Docs list," said Google on its Docs blog. "Over the next few weeks you'll see a number of small changes, culminating in a brand new shiny interface."

The major emphasis of the evolution will be on sharing and search integration has been improved with a number of new parameters including exact phrase matching, negation and current state. Google Docs changes will "happen over the next few weeks... followed shortly by the new interface and a number of pretty exciting features we have in the pipe." Sounds good to us, and necessary...

In related news Google has announced its Q2 financial results and it continues to defy the R-word. In short revenues were up three per cent year on year to $5.52 billion. Operating income was a huge $1.87bn - 34 per cent of revenues compared to £1.58bn and 29 per cent of revenues in Q2 2008.

"Google had a very good quarter, especially given the continued macro-economic downturn," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt. "While most of the world's largest economies shrank, Google's year-over-year revenues were up 3%. These results highlight the enduring strength of our business model and our responsible efforts to manage expenses in a way that puts us in a good position for the economic upturn, when it occurs."

The counter argument would be the economic downturn has actually pushed a greater number of people towards Google services since the vast majority are free and that may change once wallets start fattening up again. Then again once you've gone Google, you rarely go back.